


O Temperate Hector

by lferion



Category: The Iliad - Homer, Troy Book - John Lydgate
Genre: Gen, Poetry, The Matter of Troy, Yuletide 2018, Yuletide Madness 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 18:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17167163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lferion/pseuds/lferion
Summary: The gods are not temperate





	O Temperate Hector

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redbelles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbelles/gifts).



> Thanks and other notes to be added after the reveal.

O temperate Hector, prudent Hector, horse-tamer Hector,  
Cool-headed and steady of arm:  
The Gods are not temperate;  
They love not prudence;  
Furnace-hot the vital fluid that runs within their veins.

Apollo's arrows burn both friend and foe;  
Aphrodite's darts pierce armored breast,  
Unshielded thigh alike;  
Athena's webs may wreak destruction wide in wisdom's cause;  
Hephaestus' arts rejoice in use in any hand.

Immoderate immortals, eternal, unchanging of essence,  
So lightly touched by time;  
They envy the ephemeral, the mortal,  
The flicker of change and reckless will to live  
In so short a span.

Be wary, O moderate Hector, measured of speech, mighty of deed,  
Firm-willed and wise-counseled —  
The fire of the gods cannot be quenched with any water.  
We are but torches, lit for their amusement:  
Both blood and smoke are incense in their eyes


End file.
